Encounters
by Inksaber
Summary: A convor leads Ahsoka deep into the Atollon wilderness, where she finds something unexpected.


**This was written as part of the Star Wars Fictober challenge! The prompt for this fic was 'Flight', although the end result... doesn't have much to do with flight. I'm not going to post all of my Fictober fics here, just the ones I like best.**

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There was a convor watching Ahsoka.

She tried to keep her attention on the conversation at hand as Kanan discussed preparation plans for their journey to Malachor, but her gaze continued to wander back to the convor, who was perched on a branch thirty feet away.

It didn't look away. It didn't get bored and fly off. It merely continued to stare at her.

"Everything okay?" Kanan asked, sounding concerned. Ahsoka smiled at him.

"Everything's fine," she said reassuringly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the convor take flight. Maybe it had been nothing. Unlikely, but not impossible.

"We're leaving in a half hour," Kanan told her. "If you have any last minute preparations to make, do them now."

There was a squawk above their heads. They both looked up to see the convor circling above them, the rising sun shimmering on it's gold and green feathers.

It was still looking at Ahsoka.

"I will," she said, directing her words to the convor. "Thank you."

Once Kanan had headed back into the Ghost, the convor let out a piercing cry and dove low. It circled around her once more, then flew west over the trees, slow enough that Ahsoka would be able to follow it into the Atollon wilderness. She didn't hesitate.

The Force worked in mysterious ways and Ahsoka was eager to find out what it had in store for her today.

She ducked under low hanging branches and jumped fallen logs with ease, making sure to keep the convor in her sight. Every once in a while it would land on the flora in front of her, as if to double check that she was keeping up. Then it would take off again.

The sky was brighter by the time Ahsoka pushed aside a large leaf and skidded down a slope. She found herself in a large open area, almost like a bowl. There was a cave set into the stone to her left and several rocky structures reached into the pink sky.

The Force felt different. Whatever the convor had intended her to find, it was here.

The convor settled onto the nearby flora and closed it's eyes. It's mission appeared to be complete.

"Who's there?" Ahsoka called out. "Why have you brought me here?"

The ground rumbled and she took a step back, instantly alert. In front of her, a jagged looking rock formation began to shake. It rose from the ground and began to take shape. A large head emerged, then a torso and limbs. Gigantic grey eyes blinked open and Ahsoka realized this wasn't a rock formation at all, but a creature.

A very powerful creature.

The being raised itself up on two enormous arms and turned it's gaze to her. Those eyes seemed to pierce right through her, and she found herself thinking of Master Yoda.

"The better question is," said the creature in a strangely tranquil voice for a beast so large, "why did you feel you had to come?"

"Preparation," Ahsoka said simply. "Who are you?"

"You are familiar with both the Ashla and Bogan, the light and the dark, yes?"

"Yes."

"I am the Bendu. The balance, the one in the middle."

That stirred a memory. Long ago, she had met the personification of the light and the dark side. The Son and the Daughter, they had called themselves. Their father had been their balance, but the Bendu felt different. He gave off the same sense of incredible power, and yet he felt... older. As old as the Force itself.

And who might you be?"

"I'm Ahsoka Tano," she said, and for once it didn't occur to her to give a false name.

"What brings you to this world, Ahsoka Tano?"

"My friends are here," she said. "There's an evil that they need help defeating."

"Hmm." The Bendu nodded his craggy head. Several streams of pebbles poured onto the ground with the movement. "And you do this purely out of the goodness of your heart?"

It had taken all of three seconds for him to see right through her.

"I'm looking for answers," she admitted. "I'm hoping I might find then on Malachor today."

" _Malachor,_ " the Bendu said with interest. "And yet, I sense little darkness within you. What kind of answers are you looking for?"

"Someone I knew," Ahsoka said, "My Master, when I was a Jedi Padawan. I think he might have become the Sith Lord, Darth Vader."

Bendu fixed her with an intense look. "Then it is not answers you seek on Malachor. It is confrontation."

A chill ran down Ahsoka's spine. "He'll be there, then."

"This is not anything you didn't already know."

It was true. It had been in the back of her mind since Ezra first brought up Malachor- that would be where she would see Vader face to face. It was inevitable.

This was her chance to rid the galaxy of a great evil. Her chance to even the playing field for the Rebellion. And yet...

This was also her chance to see Anakin again. To bring him back. To right some of the wrongs she had caused by leaving him behind.

"There is much conflict within you," Bendu observed.

"I must fight him," Ahsoka said. "But how can I kill him, if he really is Anakin?"

"Violence is never a must," Bendu said mildly. "It is a choice."

"Yes, but this choice could save thousands of innocent lives," Ahsoka replied. "The way I see it, it _is_ a must."

"Hmm," the Bendu said again. "This does not sound like the Jedi way."

"I am no longer a Jedi." Things were different now.

"You are set on this confrontation, then?" The Bendu sounded neutral, but Ahsoka still felt like she had failed a test of some kind.

She looked away. "I have to know the truth."

"So be it," Bendu said. "But understand that much will change from this encounter, including you."

"Isn't that true of all things, as time advances?" Ahsoka replied. She was not the same person she'd been when she and Anakin parted ways at the end of the Clone Wars. She was stronger now, and that strength would help her in her confrontation with Vader.

The Bendu inclined his head. "My dear, when I say change, I mean death."

Ahsoka fought to keep her face neutral. "So I will die, then?"

"Will you?" Bendu raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that. Goodbye then, Ahsoka Tano, former Jedi Knight."

The ground began to shake once more as the Bendu turned away from her. He sank down, and within seconds, he looked like any other unassuming rock formation out in the Atollon wilderness.

Above her, the convor took flight once again. It seemed determined to stay with her until she left the planet.

Once, many years ago, Ahsoka had heard that convors were a death omen. "My mam, a convor followed her home from the market and she died twenty hours later," someone had told her. She didn't remember their name or face, but she remembered the words.

Above her, the convor shrieked sadly.

Ahsoka straightened up, squared her shoulders and began the walk back to the Rebel base.

Whatever awaited her later, she would not shy away.

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 **This fic was inspired by the art/description Dave Filoni posted on Twitter a while ago. The last bit of dialogue, starting with "You are set on this confrontation, then?" belongs to Dave, not me.**

 **If you liked it, let me know :)**


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